Rotary intaglio ink fountain



Mai-ch 17, 1953 c. A. HARLEss 2,531,532

ROTARY INTAGLIO INK FOUNTAIN Filed June e, 195o s sheets-'Sheet 1 March 17, 1953 c. A. HARLESS 2,631,532

ROTARY INTAGLIO INK FOUNTAIN Filed June e, 195o s sheets-sheet 2 L; @f2 Lef Mardi 17, 1953 c. A. HARLEss ROTARY INTAGLIO INK FOUNTAIN 5 sheets-sheet 3y Filed June e, 195o PTS" Patented Mar. 17, .1953

ROTARY INTAGLIO INK FOUNTAIN Charles Harless, Riverside, Conn., assigner to R. Hoe & Go., Inc., New York, `N.Y., acorpora- Ytion-'of New York 'This invention .relates .to Vimprovements '-in lrotary intaglio :printing machines and, more Yparticularly, lin .ink fountains .for use in .such 'machines.

.Inrotary intaglio ink fountains, and especially in .such vfountains where the cylinder is inked by running in a pool of ink within the fountain, .there is a tendency forink to iind its way out around .the cylinder shaft and to enter the bearings and the gearing. With many inks there is an abrasive action which will'u'ltimately cause deterioration .of the lbearings and gearing. It is an object of Ithe invention to provide improved means for preventing the emergence of ink @around the cylinder shaft or journals.

many cases a .given fountain is utilized with printing cylinders of `different diameters. The printing Ecylinder diameter will depend upon the size of the product to .be printed and upon whether it is printed one up or whether the -subject matter to be printed is repeated one kor more 'times around the Icylinder circumference. Generally speaking, ,and Iwith a given size .fountain, more ink leakage trouble will be experienced with small cylinder-s, and it is desirable Vin any event to provide suitable leakage protection for any Vof a range of sizes of cylinder.

It is an object of the invention to provide .improved means `for preventing the escape of ink around the cylinder shaft, which is adaptable to cylinders of different diameters.

With ythe foregoing oblject, and still other oibjects which will appear in mind, :afountain embodying the invention will now bev-described with reference -to the accompanying drawing, and the `features forming the invention `will then be pointed out more particularly in lthe appended claims.

In fthe v`dra-wing Figure 1 is a cross section through the fountain, `on the line l-I ofEEigure 2, and showing also certain related structures;

Fig-ure 2 is iagsection -o'f the Aline 2-2of Figure 1, and showing one end of the fountain;

lFigure 3 .is a plan viewof theend of the foun- Itain shown in Figure 2, with certain parts removed;

Figure '4 a section on the line |4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is an elevation view of :a -baiiie element utilized with the fountain of previous figures;

Figure 6 is a section on the Yline 6 6 of Figure 5 :and on an enlarged scale; Iand .Figure .'7 ,is a section view similar toiiligure c.

y but showing the roumain without the rame c:

2 Figure :5, and `illustrating operation with the largest cylinder.

'The fountain comprises a casting or body 4l having .end flange or rbracket elements l2 by means 'of which the fountain is fastened to the press frames 4 so that the brackets 2 lie fiat against the press frames. Machine screws or bolts 3 may be utilized for this purpose.

'The printing cylinder `5 -is carried in bearings x6 Awhich vseat in the press frames in th-e usual m-anner and are accommodated kby the fountain, as indicated in Figures 2 and y3. Cover elements indicated at 6 in Figure l1, lform a closure on the doctor side of the fountain and the reciprocating doctor l is maintained in position for removing excess ink from the printing cylinder. The printing cylinder applies the ink remaining in its etchings to the web of paper indicated at W, the web being pressed against the printing cylinder by an impression roller 8, as usual. The printing cylinder rotates counter-clockwise, yas indicated in Figure 1. On the opposite side from the doctor is provided a hinged cover 9, coming close to Ithe surface of the cylinder 5, and the ends of the cylinder -5 are covered over by means of arcuate Icovers I6. Suitable doctor mech- -anism and closure arrangements .as Well as suitable frame and ink circulating arrangements are well vknown in the art, being shown -for example in the patents to Zuckerman No. 2,097,791 and Heller No. 2,292,344. Since such elements form in themselves, no part of the present invention, they are not described in detail.

The central part of the fountain forms we'll H, for holding a body of ink to be app-lied to the cylinder. A series of inlet ports l2 runs along the side of the fountain opposite the doctor, and a depression li4 is provided centrally of the IWell Il having an outlet port I'5, as indicated. A series o-f overflow ports t3 runs along the side of the fountain under the doctor. The `ink may be circulated through the fountain, entering by ports l2 and passing out through the port I5, the lquantity of Aink in the fountain being regulated by the rate of supply and any excess overflowing through the ports I3. The present invention is not concerned with the specific ink circulation adopted.

In a typical ink fountain intended for newspaper or vsimilar printing, Ithe web of paper printed on may be about six feet wide and the cylinder somewhat longer. It is undesirable to make lthe vpress or the distance between press frames any Wider .than necessary as this .increases the weight of 'the parts and the oor space required without any corresponding benefit. In a typical installation, the distance between the end of the printing cylinder and the press frame may be only live or six inches. It follows that the spacing between the end of the cylinder and the end wall of the fountain may be iive inches or somewhat less. Since the fountain end Wall around the cylinder shaft or gudgeons I9 curves inward toward the cylinder as indicated at 20 (Figure 2), the spacing of the cylinder from the end of the fountain at the point where the cylinder shaft passes through may be only an inch or two, and some of the ink thrown on the cylinder shaft will travel outwardly along it and get into the cylinder bearings. Since ink on the cylinder ends is not scraped off by the doctor, it tends to fly off tangentially of the cylinder, striking the covers IB and running down inside the fountain. Hence, it is apparent that the condition created in a conventional fountain is such that the cylinder gudgeons I9 may be continuously bathed in ink, which ink tends to creep outwardly into and through the bearing 5 and ultimately into any gears by means of which the cylinder is driven and into any other mechanism, such as axial and circumferential registering mechanism, which may be provided. Furthermore, the lower part of the cylinder, rotating within the well il, tends to Carry ink from the left side (as seen in Figure 2) into the space on the doctor side, and there is a tendency for such ink to pile up and iiow back around the ends of the cylinder, thus iooding the cylinder gudgeons i9 with ink, and further aggravating the diiiiculty.

In accordance with the present invention, a chamber 2i is formed within the fountain and at each end thereof by a partition or ink baiiie 25 which as shown in Figure 7, surrounds the lower part of the cylinder. Ihese baiiles have arcuately finished ribs with surfaces 25 which are preferably formed on a radius corresponding to the largest cylinder with which the fountain is to be used. This radius may be, in a typical case, seven and a half inches or thereabouts, suflcient clearance being provided between the cylinder and the baffle, so as to eliminate any danger of abrasion of the cylinder surface.

The space outside the baiiie 25 and at each end of the fountain, as best shown in Figures 2 and 3, forms the chamber 2i, which is provided with an outlet or drain port 21 through which any ink which gets past the baffle is allowed to flow by gravity. The general level of ink maintained within the well and between the baflies 25 will immerse the cylinder sufiiciently for printing, but the accumulation of ink on the ends of the cylinder beyond the baffles is prevented. Any ink deflected to the end of the cylinder by the doctor, is thrown off in a generally tangential direction and thus passes over the trunnion E9 rather than toward it. It has been found that in practice, the ink thrown from the end surfaces of the cylinder strikes the inner surface of the arcuate covers l and then flows down the walls to the chamber 2l and to the drain port 21, thus keeping the gudgeons free of ink.

Where smaller cylinders than the maximum size shown in Figure are used, adapters 3D, shown in Figures and 6, are utilized. These are secured in position as shown in Figures l, 2, 3 and 4. These adapters, the specific form of which is shown in Figures 5 and 6, are generally semi-annular in form and provided with an external groove 3| which iits over the finished surface 26 of the bale 25. To each side of the surface 2B, the baiiie 25 is rabbeted so as to provide a rib fitting within the groove 3l. The adapter in turn is formed with a finished cylindrical inner surface 36 corresponding to the surface 26, but being on a lesser radius so as to be spaced from the small diameter cylinder by the required clearance. Each baie 25 extends clear across the fountain as indicated at 31 and is formed with a pair of threaded bores 38 (Fig. 1) for receiving a pair of bolts or screws 39. A pair of clips 40, held down by the bolts 39, the ends of which engage the upper surface of the baffle 25 and the adapter 30, serve to hold the latter element in position.

What is claimed is:

1. A rotary intaglio ink fountain comprising a generally cylindrical well for holding ink for inking a cylinder and having means including a reciprocating doctor forming an enclosure around the major part of the cylinder and around its shaft, baflies at the ends of the well having cylindrical surfaces adapted to come close to the lower part of the cylinder and extending upwardly above the operating ink level for confining ink within the well, chambers at the ends of the fountain beyond the baffles for receiving leakage, and means for removing leakage ink from the said chambers.

2. A rotary intaglio ink fountain according to claim 2, comprising also arcuate adapter baflies fitting the first said baies and having cylindrical surfaces concentric with the first said cylindrical surfaces but of smaller radius, for adapting the fountain for use with a correspondingly smaller cylinder.

3. A rotary intaglio ink fountain according to claim 2, in which the adapter baies are formed with grooves fitting over the rst said baiiies.

4. In an ink fountain through which ink is circulated and which is arranged to receive a first rotatably supported intaglio printing cylinder of relatively large diameter, and alternatively to receive a second intaglio printing cylinder of smaller diameter, partitions extending between opposite side walls of the fountain and forming a chamber at each end thereof, each said partition extending from the bottom of the fountain upward to within a small clearance distance from the peripheral surface of the said first cylinder when it is in operating position', arcuate adapters each having a convex surface fitted to the upper surface of a partition, and extending to within a small clearance distance from the peripheral surface of the said second cylinder when the second cylinder is in operating position, thereby closing the space between the' partition and the cylinder, and an outlet in each chamber for egress of ink passing into the chamber from the fountain. Y

CHARLES A. HARLESS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS the 

